Many liquid products are packaged in containers that include devices for dispensing the liquid product in the form of a spray. Such containers typically dispense the liquid product, under pressure, through a dispensing valve. For example, the liquid product may be stored under pressure in a sealed container fitted with a dispensing valve. Alternatively, the liquid product may be stored in a container fitted with a dispensing valve that includes pump devices for urging the liquid product though the dispensing valve under pressure.
In any case, however, some form of actuator is usually fitted to the container, often as a cap. The actuator includes devices for operating the dispensing valve and any associated pump device, and an outlet through which the product is dispensed as a spray. Conventional actuators generally comprise a feed channel leading to an outlet, the channel being in fluid communication with the dispensing valve. Generally, the user depresses the actuator to actuate the valve and any associated pump device, and hence dispense the product through the outlet of the actuator in the form of a spray.
It is very often desirable to form a spray comprising a fine mist of liquid droplets. Conventionally, therefore, a dispensing apparatus includes devices for atomizing the liquid product into small droplets before it is dispensed as a spray. A preferred method of atomizing the liquid product is by means of a flow-modifying insert that is fitted within the outlet of the actuator during manufacture. In use, the liquid product flows through the flow-modifying insert before exiting the outlet of the actuator as a spray. Typically, flow-modifying inserts act to form a vortex within the liquid product, which causes atomization of the liquid product and forms a spray comprising a fine mist of liquid droplets.
However, since the flow-modifying insert is generally of relatively complex structure, actuator caps including such flow-modifying inserts are conventionally manufactured as two components that are then assembled together on an assembly line. The presence of a flow-modifying insert therefore increases the cost of manufacture significantly.